Michael Laudrup, the Swansea City manager, has said there is no need to
increase the size of his squad after qualifiying for the Europa League with
their League Cup final win last month.

The 5-0 defeat of Bradford City at Wembley secured the Welsh club's first major piece of silverware, and with it a place in next season's Europa League.

Swansea were given a taste of the pressures a Europa League campaign would put on them during a period over Christmas and New Year which saw them play 11 games in 37 days.

Laudrup was delighted with how his squad stood up to the rigours of such a schedule and, combined with what he has seen during his time at Barcelona, does not believes a host of new signings will be required.

"I know one year that Barcelona played with 19 first-team players, as well as a few younger players, and they played every three days. It is possible," he said after watching his side beat Newcastle 1-0 to reach the 40-point mark in the Premier League.

"I know again the risks if you get an injury. Look at what happened to us when Neil Taylor broke his ankle the day after the transfer window shut.

"That has special implications, but I don't believe in having 27 or 28 players.

"You won't have 27 players who are at the same level, so you will still have five or six who never play.

"I think if you take all the games this season, even the two-and-a-half months when we played every three days and had injuries, we always had a competitive team.

"I don't recall us ever having only 15 or 16 players to choose from. I felt in that period everyone had an importance in the team."

He added: "I think two players for each position is more than enough, just about 22 players.

"That way you can still have some young players, someone with talent and potential [on the fringes of the squad].

"That means everyone feels important and the young players get the feeling that they are not so far away from playing."

Newcastle have themselves found it difficult to cope with competing on the European and domestic fronts, although Alan Pardew's side have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks.

In contrast to Laudrup, the Newcastle manager believes a bigger squad is required to compete in the Europa League.

"It is a competition that you have to suck it and see how your players will cope with it," he said.

"Ours have sometimes done well on the Thursday and not so well on the Sunday. Obviously you have to get both right.

"You need a bigger squad for sure. It is difficult."

Pardew revealed he hopes to have Fabricio Coloccini available for next weekend's league game against Stoke, but is unlikely to risk the Argentine against Anzhi Makhachkala after he missed the Liberty Stadium clash with a back problem.

Pardew also praised goalkeeper Rob Elliot, who performed admirably and made a string of excellent saves against the Swans.

He said: "I thought he did very well. Coming in for a class player like Tim Krul is difficult.

"Whatever my own emotion is, I feel sorry for him. He played well and we did well as a team and got nothing.

"I have no worries about him. He is a sound keeper and he has proved it at Championship level."